Opens First Friday, May 1, 2026 from 5 to 7pm
The show will run in our Textile Collection Gallery all month during our regular gallery hours: Fridays and Saturdays 1-4pm.
Feb 18 2026 - Feb 18 2026
May – Hilda Pertha Designs in the Textile Gallery
The original Hilda Pertha textile designs presented in this exhibit are a selection of nearly 50 framed examples and a few other displays from a box of more than 400 selections, each created with gouache & inks on paper in the mid-1940s. These NYC marketed designs suggest popular styles that reflect Paris themes, as recent as the 1920s that were later adopted in the United States.
From 1945-1948 Hilda was represented by Creative Designer of Textiles, Harvey Seltzer Studio. Then from 1948 forward she operated independently as Director of Hilda Pertha Design Studio, Creative Designer of Fabrics. Three of her early designs were added to the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute in 1948. Over the decade, her designs were acquired throughout Europe, including Manchester, London, Paris, Barcelona, Germany, Switzerland and Italy.
Biographical Notes:
Hilda Pertha (1911-2011) was an author and painter in Mendocino, California and Europe; she worked primarily in oil. Born in Pennsauken, New Jersey, she studied at the Philadelphia College of Art, the Barnes Foundation and Settlement Music School. In the mid-1940s through mid-1950s she worked the decade as a textile designer in New York City and Europe before launching her painting career. Pertha spent time in Norway where she felt a strong connection to the land and people. There she befriended Norwegian artists like Carl Nesjar with whom she kept in touch throughout her life. In addition to many locations in America, Pertha exhibited in Norway, as well as other parts of Europe. In Mendocino, California she was active at the Mendocino Art Center as an exhibitor and teacher after being invited by founder William (Bill) Zacha in 1960. She also wrote more than 200 articles for the magazine West Art. Pertha died in May 2011 in her Mendocino home.
Links and other information about Hilda’s work.
Smithsonian Archives of American Art
For additional and comprehensive data on Hilda Pertha, I suggest you check out this link to the collection of papers dating back to 1938 that I donated to the Smithsonian Archives of American Art:
https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/hilda-pertha-papers-16214/biographical-note
Blog Links to Textile Posts Please visit www.hildapertha.blogspot.com.
https://hildapertha.blogspot.com/2020/05/textile-design-era-details-to-share.html
https://hildapertha.blogspot.com/2020/04/hilda-pertha-decade-in-textile-designing.html
Video #1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CD_2K0bzyY&feature=youtu.be